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My name is Scott, I am a 22 year old med student living in Australia.
On Christmas night, my Partner of 4 years, Cobie, Suffered a 3 Meter fall from a balcony whilst having her picture taken by her Mum. The railing she was leaning against collapsed when her brother and mothers partner Rick put too much pressure on it. she fell badly, and as we waited for the ambulance to arrive she cried and screamed, as she could feel nothing below her neck. She was then choppered to the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney.
Cobie's mum and I drove from where we were to the hospital straight away and after 7 hours arrived to see her in traction. she was still paralyzed from the shoulders down but could feel some touch and pain in her arms and around the top of her sternum. After scans it was revealed she had broken her C5 and C6 vertebrae. She went into surgery and had the vertebral bodies of C5 and 6 removed and replaced with metal plates and a bone graft. after the surgery she was able to breath without the aid of a tracheotomy which was such a relief to her and all who we spoke to about it. the next day she was very drugged up and not able to talk very much but her mum and i stayed with her as much as we could and told her we loved her and that we would be with her through everything. this morning she was better, able to talk and seemed fairly calm and glad that we were there. she has regained slightly more feeling in her torso, able to feel down to mid sternum, and can move her thumb slightly. she has pins and needles in her fingers. i have been keeping all her friends informed of the progress and passing on their love to her, but she currently doesn't want to know what they have said for her and for obvious reasons does not want to see anyone.
The Doctors have not discussed with any of us yet the nature of her paralysis, whether is is complete or incomplete, which level the damage begins/ends and what her future might hold in terms of movement and sensation. As i understand it the damage is localized somewhere between C4 and C7, and while it was a bad injury, there is less bleeding and swelling than the doctors had expected. I know that it will take weeks-months for the inflammation to settle, and am dreading the waiting.
Cobie is currently studying design and art education at a university in Sydney. she wants to be a jeweler and designer. obviously this accident is going to heavily impact these goals and whilst with swelling bleeding and bruising to still go down the doctors are confident she will regain more function, they feel it is unlikely she will ever have more than gross motor control of her hands and arms, and the chance of her being able to control anything below that including bowels, bladder etc is virtually nil. I do not know how much of this she has been told, and feel that it is not my place to discuss these things with her at this point.
Before her accident Cobie was a fairly physical girl and used her hands for fine work often. she was strong and maintained her independence as much as possible. we have lived together for over 18 months, and have grown even closer during that time, but in the last few months our relationship has been somewhat rocky, nearly ending a couple of weeks ago due to differences in our life plans, but since then has been OK.
I love Cobie very much and want to do everything in my power to not only aid her recovery but also make sure that she knows that this is not the end of the world, that she is still the same wonderful person that she was before and that regardless of what happens, She will always be my princess in my eyes.
Many people who are close to Cobie and were involved in the incident are blaming themselves for what has happened, myself included. i can't help but wonder if i had let her go when she wanted to leave, or hadn't been with her that day, that none of this would have happened. i know these feelings are unhelpful but we cannot help but search for some reason why such a life changing event has occurred. Cobie does not blame herself in any way for what happened though which is great. I am working hard to stay positive with Cobie, as i know she needs positivity at them moment, but I feel my strength failing, as i have lost alot this year from my best mate to my cousin to my dog and so am fairly emotionally unstable as it is. Additionally i suffer from chronic back pain myself, which I have often relied on cobie to come to terms with and survive.
As far as the doctors are concerned she will be in the ICU for at least another week, then be transferred to the spinal unit for rehabilitation etc. she will be in this hospital for around 6 weeks or so and then transferred to another one close by where she will be for another 4-6 depending on her recovery. Currently Myself, Her mother Leanne and my mother Julie are all staying in the accommodation at the hospital so that we can be with her as much as possible. Her mum plans to be with her throughout the whole process, and though I will probably have to go back to uni in February (because Cobie will NOT let me quit) i will also be with her as much as i can be.
From this forum I am hoping to get Advice, stories from people who have been through similar events, guidance, reality checks, and most of all friendships with people who understand what I, and most importantly, Cobie, are going through. I will be encouraging all who are close to her to make full use of this site or one similar because knowing all we can will let us help Cobie as best we can. so please, jump in, tell me what i should do, tell me what i shouldn't do. tell me your stories and I will tell you hers and ours.
This whole situation feels completely unreal. I only hope I am strong enough, and her family is strong enough, and even more that she is strong enough, to get through this and move on with life.
Edited by HereForHer, 27 December 2011 - 04:38 AM.
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We've got the welcome wagon all ready for her, for when she does come on-board. 
